North Dakota regulators have renewed a permit that allows diversion of Devils Lake water into the Sheyenne River, although it may last only a few months.

Dave Glatt, environmental health chief of the state Health Department, said the permit is almost identical to the document it replaced, which was scheduled to expire at midnight Monday.

It regulates the state Water Commission's operation of the Devils Lake outlet, which is a network of pipes, open channels and pumps that is designed to funnel water from the lake's west bay into the Sheyenne.

Glatt said the permit may be replaced in August by a separate agreement with the Water Commission because of a pending regulatory change by the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

The federal rule, which is to take effect Aug. 12, says permits similar to the Devils Lake outlet permit are not required to govern transfers from one body of water to another, as long as the transferred water is not changed in the process.

Unless the rule's effective date is delayed, Glatt said Monday, he expects it will be replaced with a separate, yet similar, agreement with the Water Commission. The permit will stay in effect if the federal rule is delayed, and it could last up to five years, Glatt said.

"At the end of the day, we still need to comply with state water quality standards," he said.

The permit sets the conditions by which the outlet may be operated. Since it was ready for operation in August 2005, the $28 million structure has mostly been idle because high sulfate levels in the Sheyenne have precluded the diversion of Devils Lake water into it.

The permit's terms say the outlet may not operate if Devils Lake's water level drops to 1,445 feet above sea level or lower. The lake hit a modern-day record for elevation in May 2006 at 1,449.2 feet, but it has since declined. It was measured at 1,446.93 feet on Monday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

Mike Lukes, a National Weather Service hydrologist, told KZZY Radio of Devils Lake that there is a 50 percent chance the lake will drop almost another foot by fall because of evaporation.